OM1 Day Out at Featherdale: Mammals and Reptiles

A cheeky-looking Quokka at feeding time in an open enclosure. I used my new MC-14 Converter for this result to test a: how easy it was to use (easy) and b: to check the clarity of the result (excellent). I was 100% happy on both counts. Because this is the 4/3 system the converter is tiny so physically it's as if it's not there at all (it adds 14.7mm to the length of the lens and weighs 105g). The quokka shots were pin sharp, albeit with a fairly shallow depth of field (focal length = 840mm, 1/500s @ f5.6, ISO 400).

Lace Monitor inside the reptile house - always a bit of a White Balance dilemma as most enclosures like this feature some kind of general illumination - as well as a heat lamp that burns at a completely different (colour) temperature. This was a reasonable result all things considered. 600mm focal length - 1/500s @ f4, ISO3200.

Lace Monitor
A change of lens to get a bit more context in the photo - a 600mm lens is nice but it often produces a result with little or no geographical context. In many ways my new M.Zuiko 24-80mm f2.8 II lens produced a better, more contextual result. (1/320s @ f5, ISO1600).

Echidnas on the move. Very hard to photograph - their enclosure is a slightly sunken pit which is good for viewing - but not so good for photography as the results are always going to be a 'view from above'. Still, nice to see these unique animals on the move. Most of the time they are hiding in their burrows so to see them in the open was great (Pic Natalie Hitchens, 1/50s @ f4, ISO 1000).

A wombat between meals. We had just missed seeing him eat his breakfast so he was in a cave sleeping it off. Not much you can do photographically in this case. Pic Natalie Hitchens.

In the reptile house. I find that snakes are usually very hard to photograph - usually they are wound round a (fake) tree branch hiding at the top of the cage so you basically can't see much. This one unusually, was on the move. Pic by Natalie Hitchens, 80-300mm f2.8 PRO lens, 1/80s @ F2.8, ISO1600

If you need an easy subject to practice on, kangaroos, wallabies (and everything in between) make for excellent, static and calm subjects in this park!

Close-up of a giant lace monitor. Using a 600mm (35mm equivalent) lens for smaller wildlife - that's only 5 foot away has its advantages (fantastic, detailed close-ups) and its disadvantages (can't possibly fit the whole critter in the frame). M.Zuiko 300mm f4 lens, 1/500s @ f4, ISO3200.

Spotted quolls - technically nocturnal animals but we were lucky to see a couple emerge from their dens - although by mid morning the lighting was terrible - patchy sun - that no amount of editing was going to fix (Pics Natalie Hitchens).

Having seen koalas on Raymond Island on a recent road trip, seeing more curled up in a tight ball atop a tall tree was not that exciting - koalas do little but sleep for 20 hours a day - but it was nice to spot one alert and eating, albeit as part of a commercial 'have your picture taken with a koala' setup for the zoo. 1/250s @ f4.5, ISO3200

Cat-sized Wallaby soaking up the sun in the park. I find that this sort of lighting is the trickiest to capture subjects with. The contrast between shade and highlight is just too much for most camera sensors - best way to deal with this is to always shoot RAW files and to underexpose by 2/3 or one f-stop to preserve highlight detail. You can always lighten the black shadows and dim the highlights where necessary in post. M.Zuiko 80-300mm f2.8 lens, 1/500s @ f5.6, ISO800. (Pic by Natalie Hitchens)

Bearded Dragon
Another inmate in the reptile house. M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8 II lens. 1/80s @ f2.8, ISO1600.

Spotted quoll - if you saw the ABC documentary Quoll Farm you'll know how social, charismatic and fascinating these energetic little critters are. It's hard to sum up an animal like this in one image. They don't stay still for more than a few seconds at a time so, when they do appear in the cage, it's a real challenge to get them in the frame! 1/640s @ f5, ISO1600.